From the National Wildlife Federation’s Senior Agriculture Policy Specialist Duane Hovorka.
In a post on X/Twitter, the US Fish & Wildlife Service responded on August 14 to the outpouring of opposition to its request for information on how it calculates setbacks for the drain tiles around FWS-owned wetland easements in the Prairie Pothole Region. It thanked “the more than 200,000 commenters who responded”, then said:
“Our Administration is dedicated to protecting both the wetland easements purchased by the FWS that are necessary to protect our conservation heritage as well as the private landowners’ use of their lands outside the easement boundaries. At this time, no further action is planned as we review the information received.”
For now, at least, FWS will apparently not propose changing or withdrawing the 2024 Biden Administration rule that codified its process and the ‘safe harbor’ landowners receive when they abide by FWS calculations. This seems like a win, at least for now, due to the work NWF did in collaboration with Ducks Unlimited, Delta Waterfowl, and many other conservation groups to educate and inspire hunters and others to take action.
The FedReg website showed over 219,000 comments received in just two weeks, including over 11,000 that came through the NWF action alert website. Big thanks to the NWF affiliates who responded with their own comments and by juicing up their own networks, and all the NWF staff who helped with videos, outreach, crafting comments, sending action alerts, and all the rest in a very short timeframe. It was a conservation community effort that sent a very clear message, and it appears the message was received.
– Duane Hovorka
Duane Hovorka
Sr. Agriculture Policy Specialist
O | (202) 797-6630
E | HovorkaD@nwf.org
